Political Correctness           April 9, 2013

            Wow! If you are a politician and you say the wrong thing, every political and emotional enemy you have will decry your insensitivity, social stupidity, and basic crassness.  You will be identified with every graceless comment ever made and the world will hear about your memorable faux pas which will be named after everyone’s favorite social screwer-up du jour.  You will enjoy a prolonged festival of fingers, pointed at you.  This is the price of having a politically incorrect moment.

            Meanwhile, all sorts of politically inexcusable events go unheralded. Obviously unconstitutional laws passed by state legislatures. Governors who push tax changes that will victimize low income people and benefit wealthy donors.  Congressmen who visited economic wrath on Cuba (how did that work out, by the way?), and who now worry publicly that someone who visits Cuba might send the wrong message.  Self-satisfied senators who are bellicose in their disregard of the death inflicted on middle-east civilians for the sake of promoting human rights.  And of course politicians who are so bent on dismantling safety nets for the needy that they damage our economy to get their way.  And the politically inexcusable capper: they advertise their actions as ‘restoring America’s greatness.’ 

            I don’t know how you feel, but around here, we think politically inexcusable behavior is more important than politically incorrect behavior.   The latter is a distraction from the insidious effects of the former.  Thanks again news media, for your usual contribution to important public discourse.